In the past few months he has taken down players such as whO, Rainbow, Remind, Grubby, Check and Focus – All who would likely be considered favorites against him. In WC3L standings he is ahead of TeD, Southsea, Lucifer, WinNers, Elfi, FoV, Focus, Fivestar, Protois, Happy, Naniwa, Susiria, and Moon.

SonKie has proven his worth to his team by leading them in solo maps taken (13) and himself earning 5 of the 12 points that his team currently has. He has shown ingenuity especially in the Human vs Orc matchup, taking Sky’s now famous push strategy and expanding upon it with innovative ideas, such as building a second shop for 6 towers for the push instead of 3.

His training is paying off for sure.

How do you train each day, and do you train with anyone in particular?

Each day I come home from school and bug all the WCL players I can possibly find. I message them each day “CG?” “CG?” “CG?” I'm sure they all get sick of me. Timezones put me at a disadvantage here, when I get home it's already 9 pm CET! I try to train with mass Night Elves, since there are so many diverse styles of play, you really don't know what to expect from them. That's why it's important to play as many noob elves as possible!

Before I ask the next question, I just want to run a statistic by you. WC3L in solo map wins, you are 18th right now: Was there ever a moment where you thought to yourself, that you really could compete on the international scene. And not just compete, but win consistently?

I think I can compete on an international scene, but maybe not win consistently. There are so many factors that go into a win against a pro - your condition, your mental state, how much you prepared, and if you make mistakes. One thing that helped me focus against top players is that there really are few imbalances in this game. This being said, it all comes down to mistakes. If you play perfect and your opponent makes even one mistake, that's enough to make him lose the game. It's imperative that you play PERFECT.

There has been a lot of talk about your run through xLo finals, does that tournament, taking down Grubby, Check and Focus, give you confidence going forward?

I just played SO well that day. It blows my mind to know that I 2-0'd Grubby. Sure it doesn't mean much because it's an online cup, but it's certainly an accomplishment and a step forward. One thing that bothers me is how even if I beat a top player I receive nothing but flames. Haters keep hating, I'll keep winning =D Taking down Check was also a huge deal for me. Elves are such a pain in the ass, and taking down Check just made me feel so confident.

Do you think Americans will have a chance at being competitive at the highest level?

Only ones that push themselves to the limit. As of right now (this will sound cocky) but I think I'm the only American that even stands a chance. The American WC3 scene is dead, and has BEEN dead for quite some time. We don't even have a KODE5 qualifier, which truly ticks me off. E-sports in America is nothing but console crap and CS. I agree fully that CS takes a lot of true skill, but games like Halo and such really don't take as much as WC3/SC/CS.

It really makes me mad when I see articles like "X BOX PLAYER SIGNS MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT" because that game is NOTHING compared to the highest level of PC gaming.

On that note I will talk about the CGS - they are doing a really good thing by trying to promote e-sports with the drafts and all, but I feel they don't have professional enough games. Maybe it just needs time to mature, but all in all they are making headway. A huge problem I see with e-sports promotion is how sponsors just prove stereotypes true.

Usually at every lan I see scantly clad women handing out FREE SCREEN SAVER discs and trying to get me to play the wii. I wish it was more professional, but I guess society still looks at professional players as kids who are scared at the sight of a woman, or easily suckered in by them to buy a product etc.

Does it bother you that in the US, DOTA is on the rise and WC3 continues to decline?

For sure, DOTA is really fun, but it doesn't require as much skill and dedication that WC3 requires to go pro. I've been playing for so long and right now I'm just starting to win in WC3L. I don't know if you recall, but with my Verge days in WC3L I think I only won one match in like two seasons. After busting my ass off for so long, it's starting to pay off. People are naturally going to gravitate towards something that has more reward and less work. That's how my generation is in the US, we want all the rewards with none of the work. It's a lot easier to be good in DOTA than in WC3.

Sonkie at Season 5 USA Qualifiers in San Diego

Will we see you on LAN anytime?

Hopefully if any USA LANs come! I will for sure be playing WCG, ESWC, and hopefully a ladder season when it comes up. If any more tournaments come along I'll try to get involved. I'm hoping that Blizzard invites one American in their next invite tournament... hint hint Blizzard =)

So you would put yourself above Longwalk right now?

From what I hear he's not active, so yeah.

In Shortround's prime, a lot of opponents tended to underestimate him, do you think you have a similar effect?

Definitely, I'm just an American human player, how much of a threat can I really be? =)